Grain-drier



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

' J. B. TURNEY.

GRAIN DRIER.

No. 565,055. Patented Aug. 4, 1896.

"Q a w (No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2. J. E. TURNEY.

GRAIN DRIER. No. 565,055. PatentedAug. 4, 1896.

Tm: "arms azvans co. momma. *msmmcm 0 UNITED STATES PATENT EErcE,

JOHN E. TURNEY, OF OAK PARK, ILLINOIS, -ASSIGNOR TO THE UNITED STATESGRAIN DRYING COMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

DRIER.

sPEUIFIUATIgN forming part of Letters Patent No. 565,055, dated August4, 1896.

Application filed November 20, 1893. Serial llo. 491,426. (No mode Toall whom, it may concern:

Be it known that 1, JOHN TURKEY, a subject of the Queen of GreatBritain, residing at Oak. Park, county of Cook, and State of Illinois,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Grain-Driers,which'are fully set forth in the following specification, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part thereof.

This invention relates to mechanism for drying and cooling wet grains,and it is particularly intended for use in operating upon the residualgrains or meal. commonly known as brewers grains, and also distillersslops and like refuse material which has been malted or otherwisetreated for brewers or distillers purposes, but which, still retaining avery large percentage of the nutritive matter, is valuable for feeding,but must be dried in order to be kept any length of time in con- (litionfor feeding or for shipment. In a former application, Serial No.471,399, filed April 22, 1893, now pending in the Patent Office, I haveshown a mechanism for drying and cooling such material, the generalfeatures of which are retained in my present invcntion.

The present application relates to details in which the structure ismodified as compared witht-hat former application.

In the drawin gs, Figure 1 is a plan of myiinproved drier and cooler,certain deflecting devices by which. the material. is fed longitudinallythrough the drying and cooling cylinders being shown onlyover a portionof one of the cylinders, the remainder being omitted to avoid confusionin the general representation. Fig. 2 is an elevation at the end atwhich the grain is supplied. Fig. 3 is a vertical transverse section atthe line 3 3 on Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a vertical. section through thedrying-cylinder at the line a 4: on Fig. 1, nondistinctive portionsbeing broken out to condense the figure and the deflecting devices abovementioned being shown only over a short port-ion of its length. Fig. 5is a vertical section, at the line 5 5 on Fig. 1, through thecooling-cylinder, condensed lengthwise in the same manner as Fig. i andshowing the deflecting devices only over a little portion of one end,the airconduit back to the heater and the heater, partly broken away,being shown in elevation in connection with the cylinder. Fig. 6 is adetail perspective of one of the deflecting devices.

A is the drying-cylinder, and B the cooling cylinder. These are mountedside by side in the heads C and D at opposite ends, respectively,opening freely into the chambers of the heads, as hereinafter moreparticularly described, and obtaining bearings also in said heads atopenings through which the cylinders protrude thereinto, fittingcomparatively closely such openings, but having expansionjointconnections at the same, so that as the cylinders expand and contractlengthwise by change of temperature they may have suitable play at theirentrances to the heads. These cylinders may be made of comparativelylight metal, their weight being carried by collars, several of which areprovided at intervals throughout the length, the collars E E, at theends, affording the seat for the cylinders in the heads, and beingprovided with the stop-flanges E E to prevent endwise displacement ofthe cylinders beyond the extent which expansion and contraction of thelatter .may make necessary, and the other collars, E E E intermediatethe ends, being quite heavy and constituting the bearings of thecylinders upon the driving-rollers F F, &c., and the outersupporting-rollers F F.

The driving-rollers F F are mounted on a driving-shaftf, j ournaled insuitable brackets f f between the cylinders, so that the two cylindersrest upon the roller at opposite sides of a vertical plane through theaxis of the shaft. The outer supporting-rollers F F may be eachindependently journaled in brackets F F, said brackets and the bracketsf being mounted upon suitable support.- ing masonry G and being tiedtogether by tie rods G G to keep them from spreading under the weight ofcylinders resting upon the rollers, as seen best in Fig. 5.

7b is a shaft to which power is communicated by proper belt over thepulley II. On this shaft there is mounted the beveled pinion H, whichmeshes with the beveled gear H on the shaft f, and by'this means thepower necessary to rotate the cylinder is communicated thereto. Thegrain to be dried is supplied to the drying-cylinder through a hopperand chute J at one end, the chute ex tending through the chamber 0 ofthe head C and into the open end of the drying-cylinder A, where itsopen mouth overhangs without coming into contact with the deflectingdevices with which that cylinder is provided, as hereinafter moreparticularly explained. From the opposite open end of the cylinder A thegrain falls through the chamber D of the head D into the horizontaltrough D at the bottom of the head D, in which the screw conveyer Koperates to convey the grain across toward the drying-cylinder and intothe lower end of the elevator K, by which it is taken in a customarymanner and carried up to a point above the drying-cylinder, and thencedelivered downward through the chute K which, protruding through thechamber D terminates within the open end of the cooling-cylinder B, asseen in Fig. 5, in the same manner as the chute terminates within theopen receiving end of the drying-cylinder A. At the opposite end of thecooling-cylinder it discharges into the chamber 0 of the head 0, at thebottom of which, in a trough O is located another endless screwconveying device K, by which the dried and cooled grain is carried out,and by any suitable passageway may be delivered to a bagging-machine orother receptacle.

L is a fan by which the air-currents for drying and cooling are producedand drawn or forced through the cylinders, respectively.

M is a heater by which the air is raised to the proper temperature forperforming the function of drying. The head D is open at the outer sideof the chamber D into which the end of the cooling-cylinder protrudes,the opening being preferably covered by a wire screen or perforatedsheet (1 At this end, therefore, the air may freely enter thecooling-cylinder from the exterior. The head 0 is similarly opened atthe opposite end of the cooling-cylinder, and the opening preferablyoccupied by a woven wire or perforated sheet 0 and a funnel-shaped cap 0is attached at the outer side of the head (1, covering said opening, andfrom the smaller end of said cap the pipe M leads to the air-intake ofthe heater M. The air-outlet of the heater is connected directly to theair-intake of the fan, and the fan discharges through the pipe L intothe drying-cylinder A, the dischargepipe being bifurcated after itenters the cylinder, so that the air is discharged through two mouthsLwhich is near the receiving end, and L, which is preferably beyond themiddle toward the discharge end. This construction of thedrying-cylinder is not a part of the present invention and is not hereinclaimed.

The cylinders, as will be noticed, are placed substantially horizontal011 their supports, and the material is fed through them from end to endby the deflecting-shelves N N, &c.

with which the inner surfaces of both-cylinders are provided, saidshelves being each from ten to fifteen inches long and from two to fourinches in width, and in cylinders of the size represented in thedrawings, which are designed to be forty feet long and about six feet indiameter, there will be from ten to fifteen of these shelves in thecircumference and from thirty to forty in the length of each cylinder.Their order of arrangement longitudinally with respect to the cylindersis such that from the receiving end toward the delivery end of eachcylinder each shelf slightly overhangs the next following shelf, as seenin the portions of the cylinders in which these shelves are representedin the drawings. Preferably the form of each shelf is as seen in Fig. 6,being curved or dished concave forward in the direction of rotation, sothat the grain which is delivered into the cylinder from the chutes atthe receiving end is carried up by the shelves and held by theirconcavity until they pass well up toward or past the top in the rotationof the cylinder. The shelves are designed to be set at more or less ofan angle inclined downward from the receiving toward the delivery end,and by this expedient the grain delivered into them is caused to slidemore or less toward the delivery end and to be delivered, therefore,onto the next succeeding shelf, or, if the sliding takes place after therotation of the cylinder has carried the shelf in question so far upthat the grain falling off from it is out of range of the next shelf, itwill fall obliquely toward the delivery end, lodging again upon thebottom of the cylinder and being picked up by another shelf fartheradvanced from the delivery end than the one to which it fell. The grainis thus fed steadily from the receiving toward the delivery end at arate dependent upon its condition of moisture and dryness and consequentadhesiveness and upon the inclination or pitch of the shelves and rateof rotation of the cylinders. The rate at which it advances through thecylinder therefore, or, in other words, the length of time in which itmay be detained in the cylinder, may be regulated by setting the shelvesN N at a less or greater angle to the horizontal. The shelves N haveeach a stem N, which protrudes through the cylinderwall, being threadedand provided with a binding-nut upon the outside and squared at the endto receive an operating key. or wrench, so that the shelf maybe adjustedfrom the outside and secured by the nut. These shelves and their stemsare shown only over a small portion of the length of the cylinders inthe drawings, but it will be understood that the cylinders are providedwith them throughout their entire length.

It will be noticed that the exterior air, entering through the end ofthe cooling-cylinder, passes through in the same direction with thegrain which is delivered into that cylinder at the same end, and thathaving become heated IIO in performing itsfunction of cooling the grainit passes to the heater, Where it is further heated, the heat which ithas abstracted from the grain being utilized and diminishing the workrequired of the heater. From thence the air is drawn by the fan andforced into the drying-cylinder in a direction opposite that in whichthe grain is advanced through that cylinder, and emerges, laden withn1ois ture, at the end of the cylinder at which the grain enters,passing out through the flue O. The necessity or, at least, the decidedadvantage of causing the drying-current to move against the movement ofthe grain is that otherwise the air, coming from the heater hot and dry,would become quickly heavily charged with moisture upon meeting thefresh wet grain, and would lose its capacity -to take further moisturefrom the grain as it is advanced with it along the cylinder, and thegrain would therefore emerge only partly dried, whereas, moving againstthe grain, the driest air meets the driest grain and advances, becomingmore and more moist to meet grain which is more and more moist, untilthe point of saturation is reached, which should occur, if all theconditions are properly adjusted, just when the air reaches thedischarge-flue O.

A disadvantage of making the cooling-current move against the driedgrain is that the latter is light and contains a large quantity of finedust, which the opposing air-current would blow back and cause toaccumulate at the receiving end and eventually clog the passages, onlythe larger and heavier grain being properly carried through the drier,the air passing off carrying a large proportion of the fine dust throughthe heater and fan and into the drying-cylinder again, tending to clogboth the heater and fan and load the drier with a substance which wouldbecome paste therein, to the great detriment of the operation. It is forthis reason that I prefer to make the cooling-current move with the hotgrain rather than against it. To eifec-t the cooling in this mode ofoperation, probably little more air is necessary to be drawn by the fanfrom the exterior through the cooler and forced into the drier, but theWork done by the heater being properly proportioned to the amount of airthere is no loss economically due to this circumstance.

I claim- In a grain drier, or cooler, in combination with a cylinder,the shelves N conoaved or dished as set forth, and having the stems N,protruding through the cylinder -wall and provided with binding-nutsupon the outside of the cylinder substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand, in the presence of twowitnesses, at Chicago, Illinois, this 16th day of November, 1893.

JOHN E. TURKEY. \Vitnesses:

CHAS. S. BURTON, JEAN ELLIOTT.

